what’s in front of me

I’ve often noticed that we’re not able to look at what’s in front of us, unless it’s inside a frame. —Abbas Kiarostami

♦

This is how it is with me lately. Everything is frames and frame sizes and pictures to fit frames and matting to fit frames (and did you know how varied matting can be, that it comes in suede or bamboo or the texture of a basketball if that’s your thing??) And it’s not all beige either, FYI.

At this moment I may well be the most knowledgeable person within a certain kilometre radius on the subject of thrift shop frames. Go ahead, ask me who has the best prices, the biggest stock, the easiest aisles through which to maneuver a cart clunky with the oversized, the gawdy and the gilted. Ask me about how it’s important to check the BACK of the frame not just the front. (Backs can be a bugger.)

In this exciting new world of ‘preparing for a show’ I hunt for the tacky and eccentric. Really not so different really from my usual life…

I also clean and scrape glass (why do stores insist on putting price tags in all the wrong places?), pry off the buggery backs, measure, ponder which pic goes where and if any require basketball textured matting, and take regular coconut milk macha green tea latte breaks with my staff.

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8 thoughts on “what’s in front of me”

First — a huge whoohoo! on the gallery acceptance. Excellent news and frankly, I’ve been wondering why your excellent photos have been seen online and not in frames hanging from fine gallery walls. Wordless Wednesdays with Matilda Magtree are among my favourite escapes.

And how timely on the frames. I have glass and lovely matte and a sweet print and a damaged-beyond-repair wooden frame that I must either replace or…well, simply have to replace. So where is this exquisite treasure-trove of lovelies?

Well, being thrift shops there’s no guarantee on what kind of trove awaits when you go, however… the Sally Ann in Whitby is the best for prices. But the best selection is (I think a Sally Ann too) off Bayly, trying to think of the intersection. A few blocks east of Brock Road on the north side. You can see it from Bayly. They have a lot of stock, at least they did when I was there. Bowmanville’s thrift shop is also good, but hit and miss. Not a lot of stock. And the Habitat stores, again, hit and miss. You can find gold there if you’re lucky.

If you decide you want to do a custom frame instead, ‘Imagine That’ framers in Whitby is excellent.

I love this post and these pics and the excitement leading up to your show.
And I don’t want to quibble, but you contradict your opening line with every picture of sky/lake/fields/shoreline you’ve shown those of us who look forward to your blog posts.

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